Taxi Benke, The Beloved Service Dog, Is Ready for His Close-Up

Taxi is just as much a part of the Hector Garcia Middle School 7th grade class as the girl he cares for. So they decided to honor him in the most adorable way ever.

Rachel Benke, a 7th grader at the San Antonio middle school, is accompanied by Taxi, a seizure alert dog. Rachel was born with an abnormality on the right side of her brain, causing her to experience frequent seizures. Taxi is with her every day to sense when one is coming.

"He predicts she's going to have a seizure up to an hour and half before it happens," Rachel's mom Teresa told the Today show. "It seems to be a smell that the body emits, but until dogs can talk we can never know for sure."

Once at their family home, Taxi ran to the backyard pool and started slapping at the water when Rachel was swimming. Sure enough, she had a seizure just 10 minutes later. He stays on her left side since Rachel falls to her left, and is always there to comfort her.

Now that Taxi is at the middle school every day with Rachel -- they've been inseperabe for four years -- her family joked that he should have a spot in the school yearbook.

"Last year I joked, 'Where's Taxi's picture?'" Rachel's mom Teresa said. "He's here every day, he deserves to be in the yearbook, too."

When Teresa brought the idea to the school photographer on picture day, he obliged. And the family was thrilled when they saw Taxi in the yearbook!

We are loving how Hector Garcia Middle School featured the loyal pup, and that Taxi keeps protecting Rachel every day! What do you think of the yearbook snap? Let us know in the comments below!

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